Feeling you belong to a group can be great - but it also has a darker side, leading us down an unhappy path of hatred and violence towards people with different identities and backgrounds. Dr Laurie Santos talks to Mina Cikara - whose homeland descended into a bloody civil war - and Jamil Zaki about how we can fight hatred with empathy, kindness and difficult conversations.

COVID-19 has brought a raft of intense new stressors while removing many of the resources people have traditionally used to cope with stress. Millions of people have lost their jobs; some have lost their homes or businesses. Families cooped up together because of stay-at-home orders are chafing under the stress, which may increase the risk of intimate partner violence and child abuse. Disrupted routines and the potential for contracting a life-threatening disease may be exacerbating preexisting problems such as mental illness or substance use.

The doctor in charge of a Bay Area, Calif. trauma center said the state should end its lockdown orders after an “unprecedented” spike in suicide attempts amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’ve never seen numbers like this, in such a short period of time,” Dr. Mike deBoisblanc, head of trauma at John Muir Medical Center, told local station ABC7. “I mean, we’ve seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.” He added that he thinks “it’s time” to end the state shutdown.

WHEN THE PANDEMIC seized New York, Dr. Lorna Breen, a 49-year-old emergency room doctor who worked at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center, found herself in the trenches alongside physicians toiling through 18-hour days and sleeping in hospital hallways.

This Abridge News topic aggregates four unique arguments on different sides of the debate. Here are the quick facts to get you started:

THE QUICK FACTS

Guides for parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic are full of advice about how to help children navigate the transition to virtual classes, how to keep children busy and avoid boredom, and why schedules and routines are important during this stressful time. What might be overlooked? Unstructured play.

Despite a New York state mandate that companies allow as many employees as possible to work from home, the Montefiore Medical Center, an academic hospital located in the Bronx, is continuing to have "nonessential" workers at the Rose F. Kennedy Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) come into the office, much to the concern of the employees themselves.

Every action has a reaction. In the case of American politics, three decades of political polarization has, not surprisingly, produced two of the most polarizing candidates in modern history. On one extreme is Donald Trump. On the other is Bernie Sanders. And then there’s Joe Biden — poised to restore the political center and bring “decency” back to American politics.

That is, assuming there’s something to be restored.

If you’re skeptical of the trend, look no further than a 2017 study published by the Pew Research Center. The graphs below speak for themselves.

A polarizing debate is happening around the nation as lawmakers in eight states have introduced bills in recent weeks seeking to restrict transition-related treatment for transgender youth.

Proponents say the measures protect minors from medical changes they may regret as adults, while opponents say the bills prevent doctors from following health care guidelines approved by organizations such as the American Medical Association.

CLAIM: The Washington Post reported youth puberty blockers are “reversible” in an article critical of a South Dakota proposed law that would criminalize treating transgender young people with medical treatments or surgery.

VERDICT: FALSE.

South Dakota could become the first state in the nation to criminalize treating transgender youths under 16 years old with medical treatment or surgery.

A WaPo piece published on January 28 stated: